Surprise, Surprise, October Surprise.

Jane Smiley asked in a post on Huffington for a poll. The question...
Will the Bush administration attack Iran before the election?
52% said yes, 33% said no, 14% weren't sure.

Jane follows up with this post, in which she notes:

I was eager to read the responses, and after I read them, I was both invigorated and alarmed.

First, I would like to address an issue raised by Lentinel, who writes, "Something about this "poll" makes me angry. This is not a game...guessing about the tactics of the political parties. We should put all of our energies toward getting people like H. Clinton, Kerry, Gore and the the other presidential wannabees to speak out against this potential abomination." My guess is part of the reason Lentinel is angry at the poll is something several responders remarked upon. As WBum says, "I'm awed that the question even seems plausible. How have we come so far from the America of the 20th century in less than 7 years?" I would have to say, me, too. My astonishment that such ideas as the idea that the Bush administration would attack Iran in order to retain control of the government could even be plausible astonishes me over and over. That's part of the reason I suggested the poll--I kept wondering, "Who's crazy here? Me or them?" Yes, of course this is a game, but it is a serious game. I did not want this attack on Iran, should it take place, to be secret, to come as a surprise to readers of the New York Times or the Washington Post or the Monterey Herald. As it turns out, more than eight thousand people voted in the poll. That means that eight thousand people have now contemplated the issue in one way or another. That's a start.

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